Humane, the company behind the much-hyped Ai Pin, which went on sale last month to poor reception, is looking for a buyer, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. .
The sale is in the early stages, with the company reportedly setting a price between $750 million and $1 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Humane never disclosed an official valuation in its funding round, but last year The Information reported that the company was valued at $850 million.
Humane did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
pin in a haystack
Founded in 2017 by former Apple executives Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri, Humane received backing from Microsoft, Qualcomm Ventures, Marc Benioff, OpenAI's Sam Altman and others before any of its products became public. The company had raised approximately $230 million from investors.
The company finally announced the product in June of last year. Called Ai Pin, it is a wearable device with a projection display and AI-powered features. Pre-orders were opened in the US at the same time as the announcement, but the release was delayed, and Ai Pin was finally released in mid-April.
Ai Pin has a unique form factor that includes a sensor, generative AI, and a small projector that can shine a display on any surface, including your hand.
Humane Action Image Credit: Humane / Humane
But at a price of $700, plus a $24 monthly subscription fee that gives users a phone number and unlimited data to run as many queries as they can collect, Ai Pin is a cash-strapped consumer. It seemed difficult to sell in the consumer market. . In some ways, this device seemed like a solution to a problem, but many of the initial reviews say that the Ai Pin can't really do anything beyond what smartphones can already do.
Prominent YouTuber and reviewer Marques Brownlee, known as MKBHD, gave a particularly scathing review, with many saying that the Ai Pin could be destroyed on its own before it even starts up properly.
Complaints about battery life and overheating issues, coupled with other emerging (and inexpensive) smart gadgets like Meta's Ray-Ban and Rabbit's R1, could give Humane some meaningful foothold in the wearables market. It seems to be getting lower and lower.
It's also worth noting that Humane's CTO, Patrick Gates, who joined the company in 2019 after 13 years at Apple, left the company in January, along with 4% of its workforce.
Overall, things haven't been looking good for Humane for a while. So news that the company may be looking for a buyer isn't all that surprising. However, it is highly uncertain whether buyers will respond.